Charles comstock



(No Model-J.

C. COMSTOCK.

SHORT TURNING VEHICLE.

NO- 432,226- Patented July 15. 1890.

5' f i n'vlztan zaPzb/zes, Y/ZCWZGS (hzfoe/f UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

CHARLES COMSTOCK, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

SHORT-TURNING VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 432,226, dated July 15,1890. Application filed March I0, 1890. Serial No. 343,376. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: v

Be it known that I, CHARLES CoMsToCK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Short-Turning Vehicles, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to short-turnin g vehicles; and it consists in thearrangement and combination of parts hereinafter. described and claimed.

Tile object of my invention is to construct a cheap and durableshort-turning vehicle without cutting under the body or elevating thesame above the wheels; also to construct a short-turning vehicle withouta reach or pole; also to construct a short-turning vehicle that will nottip or twist the front of the body when being turned. I attain theseobjects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure l is a plan view of my vehicle with a part of the body cutaway to show the front part of the running-gear. Fig. 2 is a bottom viewof body of my vehicle.

A is the front spring, running transversely across the vehicle in frontof the axle B, and is shackled to the front ends of the springs S S,respectively, by double shackles. It is clipped or otherwise secured atits crown to the large circular track-plate T. lThe springs S S are twolongitudinal springs clipped or otherwise secured to the axle B atpoints forward of their centers sufficiently far to allow the downwardthrust of the spring A to be equal to the downward thrust of the rearends of the springs S S, so that the track-plate in its movement up anddown will move in horizontal planes without twisting or turning the axleB. These springs are shackled in front to the transverse spring A, asabove described, and in the rear to a cross-bar C by pivotalconnections. Thiscross-barGconnects the two springs S S and serves tosupport the -rear of the track-plate T, to which it is secured by boltsor otherwise. From the front spring A to the cross-bar O is a plate or.bar D, and is securely connected therewith.

At a point corresponding with the center of the track-plate, as at h, isa pivotal connection consisting ot' an ordinary king-bolt, by which thewhole platform is movably connected to the bottom of the body, as seenat Fig. 2.

To the bottom of the body is secured a corresponding track-plate T',which may be circular or segmental, which is secured by bolts throughthe frame-work of the body, and which serves to ride the track plate T.Through a piece of timber V, which is a part of the frame-work of thebody, passes a kingbolt K, which connects the platform to the body backof the axle, as set forth. Now, it will be seen that this. circulartrack-plate T, having a diameter approximately as large as the width ofthe body, will always support the body in substantially a horizontalposition, though the axle B be cramped to the right or left to itsutmost limit, and will not suffer it to tilt or twist over, as ,is thecase where the track-plate is of a small diameter in such vehicles. Thislarge track plate makes av practical short turning vehicle. Thetrack-plate T, which rests on the front transverse spring A in its frontportion and on the cross-bar C at its rear portion, is made of onepiece, and by being attached directly to the spring A and cross-bar Cfore and aft serves to constitute the frame-work of the platform as wellas a track-plate, and thus makes the device much cheaper and strongerthan if made in two or more segments. It is also made in a'circle andnot U-shaped. If

made vsmaller than the approximate diameter or width ot` the body, itwould not serve the purpose of constituting a part of the frame-Work ofthe platform, which it does by being made with a diameter approximatingthe width of the body. By making it large enough to reach from frontspring to crossbar and circular and in one piece I secure strength,cheapness, and durability of parts, and am enabled to dispense with mostof the parts used in other spring-platforms.

Now, what I claim', and for which I ask Letters Patent of theUnitedStates to be granted to me, is

1. A spring-platform composed of a single track-plate made in one piece,a transverse spring in front of the forward axle and to which saidtrack-plate is directly secured at its crown, a rear cross-barsupporting the rear ICO part of said track-plate and to which it is pdirectly secured, and two longitudinal springs shaekled at their frontends to said transverse spring and at their rear ends te said crossbarand each resting` upon and secured to an axle intermediate between theirrespeetive centers and their front ends, substantially as described, andfor l[he purposes set forth.

2. In a short-turning vehicle, the combination of a Circular track-platemade in one piece, supported on the crown of a transverse spring infront, to which it is directly attached, and on a transverse bar in therear, two longitudinal springs interposed between

